110 years ago marked the beginning of a new political era for the Irish. Centuries of oppressive rule by British overlords included the prohibition of expressions of Irish culture, discrimination against its Catholic population, and worst of all, intentional mass starvation during the 1840s. Although it is known as the Irish Potato Famine, the reality is that while the potatoes died in large quantities, British landlords confiscated virtually all of Ireland’s supply of other foods, such as beef, cheese, and fish. They made exorbitant profits off selling them back in Great Britain, whose wealth contrasted with the extreme poverty that scarred Ireland in the 19th century. As a result, around one million Irish people died of hunger, and millions more emigrated from the island, mainly to urban centers in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain since then. In fact, the island’s population today still is lower than it was in 1841, while tens of millions of people in America alone claim Irish ancestry. But in 1916, a rebellion that would serve as the catalyst for Irish independence began.

The Easter Rising conducted by fighters aiming to establish Ireland as an independent republic in Dublin was unsuccessful after days of attempting to seize control of various buildings in the city. British troops crushed the rebellion, but later lost to the Irish republicans in the War for Independence. Despite a civil war shortly after Irish independence, the Republic of Ireland has enjoyed political stability and a lack of armed conflict ever since, even during the Second World War, when the country remained neutral. Ireland was no longer impoverished to subsistence levels, but still remained a largely agrarian, isolated economy that was far from Europe’s strongest in the mid 20th century. The economic policies of the new republic were marked by intense trade barriers, and in particular, high tariffs on imports of British goods in the 1930s. These failed to produce prosperity for Irish farmers, and even after the Second World War, Ireland’s economy remained relatively stagnant, in contrast to the booming ones on the European mainland.

However, since the 1970s, reforms in Ireland’s economic policy have greatly improved its significance on the global stage. In 1973, Ireland turned away from protectionism by joining the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union, which allowed for free movement of goods, services, capital, and people between the island and continental Europe. This would only be the first step towards producing its economic boom later on. Combined with low corporate tax rates that kicked in during the turn of the millennium, it has produced a business-friendly environment not just to other European investors and corporations, but for the rest of the world as well. Major American firms, such as Dell and Intel have also established presence in Ireland’s business-friendly environment to gain access to the European Union’s market, which has turned it into the “Silicon Valley of Europe.” In fact, the country has now greatly surpassed its former colonizer in GDP Per Capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity, becoming one of the richest members of the EU. 

Even when Ireland’s government imposes restrictions on market activity, it has done so in a highly transparent manner. Ireland consistently ranks as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, and has invested its tax revenue and subsidies from the EU heavily in education to continue this economic growth. These contrast sharply with many other countries that gained independence from Britain, such as Nigeria and Zimbabwe, whose public institutions have been rife with corruption and mismanagement of funds. It is not a coincidence that many of Britain’s similar former African colonies also rank low on indices of business friendliness and market freedoms, which has severely hampered their economic growth. If colonialism really explained poverty in the world, Ireland would be far from where it is today economically.